


Of Improvised Plans and Impaled Hands

by SabbyStarlight



Series: Cold Open Challenge 2020! [7]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Blood, Cold Open Challenge, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Improvise Day!, Mac Whump, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25232833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabbyStarlight/pseuds/SabbyStarlight
Summary: Day seven of the Cold Open Challenge!Improvise!"Do go ahead and open those pretty blue eyes, Angus,"  Murdoc said, voice closer, as he dropped to sitting on the floor next to Mac, gloved fingers creeping their way through his hair, a mockery of Jack's familiar touch waking him up, and he cringed despite himself.  "You're not fooling anyone."
Series: Cold Open Challenge 2020! [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818619
Comments: 16
Kudos: 91





	Of Improvised Plans and Impaled Hands

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't had the chance to play around with Murdoc being his creepy self for a while, what better time than now?

It was supposed to be a fun afternoon of pizza and skeeball. That had been the plan. It wasn't Mac's fault that he was running a little early, that the latest mission they had come off of had left him jittery and unable to rest like he should have done after rolling home just as the sun was beginning to rise. Instead, he had waited as long as he could, staring at every clock in the house as he moved from room to room, waiting for it to reach an acceptable time for him to leave. A few hours of laughs with the team, who had all hopefully had more luck at catching some sleep than he had, would probably end with everyone following back to his place after and maybe that, having his friends around, under one roof, safe and near, would be enough to allow his brain to finally shut off enough to go to sleep. So he had left a little early, under the guise of preparing for traffic, knowing that if he arrived before anyone else he would be more than welcome to hang out at the front counter and chat with Lori until they arrived. 

He never made it out of the parking lot.

When Mac woke up, it was with a cheek pressed against a rough, cold wooden floor, and a pounding headache. The back of his mind made a bitter joke about how a blow to the head was not how he had intended to finally get some sleep. There was a mixed bag of emotions swirling through him, relief that, though his memories were hazy, he was certain he had been alone when he had been taken, and the biting cold sting of fear because of just that. Sure, everyone else, he presumed, was safe, but that also meant he was on his own. 

Taking stock of his surroundings as much as he could without opening his eyes and revealing that he was awake, Mac found that he appeared to at least be unbound. A surprising, but welcome discovery. As long as he wasn't severely outnumbered then, he would have the upper hand in a fight, even with the disorienting waver of a concussion. A sound caught his attention next and he shifted focus, trying to place it, selfishly, for the briefest of moments, hoping it would be his partner waking up nearby. Instead, he realized, it was footsteps. Pacing. Even, measured steps. It was difficult to tell with the echo of the room, but it sounded like only one person, a few yards away and was most certainly not Jack. 

He was about to make his move, jump up and charge at his captor while he still had the element of surprise on his side, when the pacing paused directly across from him, muttering something under his breath, Mac was barely able to disguise a flinch as he recognized Murdoc's voice. 

That complicated things. 

He must have tensed, because the footsteps resumed, but came closer to him this time, instead of a steady, back and forth with no real progression. "Awake already, Angus?" A sigh, not nearly as excited as he would have expected Murdoc to be given the situation, not that Mac was complaining, sounded through the room. "I shouldn't be surprised, that mind of yours never fails to impress. I just wish I was prepared to receive your company this time. This was not planned, you see." 

Mac wanted nothing more than to try to escape, even if all he managed was to crawl, all pride forgotten, his instincts were screaming at him to put as much space between him and the other man as possible. His original plan to fight off his captors had gone out the window as soon as he realized who he was up against. Murdoc wasn't one for physical shows of violence, maybe even less so than Mac himself was. It was what made him focus his sights in on Mac and decide he was a worthy adversary all those years before when they had first crossed paths. If he tried, came up swinging, with Jack's voice coaching him from his head the whole way, it would only result in Murdoc being annoyed and injuring him, nothing permanent or life-threatening, not yet, just enough to make him hurt and unable to defend himself. The only thing he could do was stay still, keeping his breathing controlled and even, despite the panic threatening to choke every breath from his lungs, and hope it would look as if he was still unconscious. 

"Do go ahead and open those pretty blue eyes, Angus," Murdoc said, voice closer, as he dropped to sitting on the floor next to Mac, gloved fingers creeping their way through his hair, a mockery of Jack's familiar touch waking him up, and he cringed despite himself. "You're not fooling anyone." 

"What do you want, Murdoc?" Mac hissed, masking his discomfort as sunlight streamed into his eyes, exacerbating his headache. 

"Honestly?" Murdoc smiled at him, and for the first time in the history of knowing the man, Mac felt as if he had the upper hand. Gone were the dramatic black coats and perfectly slicked back hair. He was in street clothes, jeans and a black t-shirt, and if Mac hadn't been trained to notice such things, he wouldn't have even noticed that the boots on his feet were military-grade. "I don't know. I told you before, I wasn't planning this." 

"Then let me go," Mac offered, pushing himself up to sitting on shaky arms, widening the distance between them and looking around the room. The bottom floor of a building, judging by the windows, and he hadn't been there long. The light coming through them was still mid-day bright, the harshness not yet dimmed by the setting sun. It was dusty, abandoned, and had been for a while. Spray paint tags marked the walls around the holes knocked into the sheetrock. 

"Oh, now, we can't do that," Murdoc protested, hands fidgeting in an uncharacteristic display of nerves and unpreparedness, and Mac caught sight of the knife he was spinning between his fingers. "I might not have a plan, per se, but I'm not one to pass up a perfect opportunity. And this, Angus, was nothing short of kismet. How else could you explain it? Imagine, me, driving through little old Glendale, scoping out potential locations, you know, busy work, really. And what do I see? A familiar-looking Jeep out of the corner of my eye. Now surely, that couldn't be my dear Angus I thought to myself. There are, after all, plenty of those around. And just when I was about to drive past, the sunlight hits that pretty hair of yours just so," A gloved hand reached out for his hair again and Mac leaned away from the touch with a glare. "So you see, it was meant to happen, Angus. Even if neither of us was prepared for it at the moment." 

"So what now?" Mac asked, flipping his wrist over to check the time on his watch. He had only been gone for a little over an hour. Which meant Murdoc couldn't have taken him far. More importantly, though, it meant that everyone would have noticed he was missing by now. Jack and everyone else would be turning over every rock trying to find him, knowing that Mac showing up early was one thing but he never would have been late, not unless something had happened. He just had to hold out, buy enough time until then. 

"Well, normally I would say it's time for us to have some fun, but I am woefully unprepared." Murdoc offered a sheepish smile. "The only tools I have with me are a single gun and this little knife," He twirled the blade between his fingers again, the speed he was spinning it, the metal's glinting flash, would have been impressive if it wasn't so intimidating. "Am I right in assuming you have that adorable little knife of your own?" 

"If you didn't take it," Mac rolled his eyes, resisting the itch to reach into his pocket and check for himself. "Most of the bad guys I run into do." 

"Which is precisely why I didn't," Murdoc grinned proudly. "We know each other well enough by now, Angus, that you should know I would never be so predictable." 

"Because picking me up at a random parking lot is so original," He was banking on Murdoc not knowing the connection their team had to the pizza place. Jack would be furious if his favorite hangout spot was blown because of Mac's recurring nemesis. "That's certainly never been done before." 

"I improvised," Murdoc shrugged. "Saw an opportunity and I took it. You should appreciate that. Though I am genuinely curious, Angus, as to what you were doing there." 

"Jack likes the pizza," He offered up the half-truth nonchalantly. "It was my turn to buy." 

"Oh, that is fun to imagine. Our dear Jack, sitting there on that deck of yours, waiting for you to make it home with dinner. How long do you think he'll wait? First blaming a line of customers or maybe they got your order wrong, then traffic, for your hold up. When do you think he'll actually get worried. By now? Or is he still thinking that you're taking an awfully long time because you stopped for drinks as well as dinner?" 

"He'll find me." 

"Of course," Murdoc nodded. "He always does. But by the time he even realizes there's a problem, let alone calls in the troops and everyone gathers at Phoenix to form a plan... just imagine all the fun we can have between then and now." 

He had no idea that Jack would be right on their heels. Mac swallowed back a sigh of relief. All he had to do was hold on until then. 

Jack always joked, though over the years he started to truly believe what he was saying, that they could read each other's minds. Mac always brushed those claims off, citing countless examples of scientific proof of the fact that it was impossible to do just that. He started to believe it though, that Jack could read his mind, at that moment, because as soon as he had given thought to the tiny shred of hope that Jack would find him in time, a door overhead slammed open with a thud. 

"No," Two sets of eyes turned upwards towards the sound, one hopeful and one devastated. "No, not this soon. That's not possible." 

"Oh," Mac grinned, unable to completely reign in the snark now that he knew rescue was imminent. "Did I forget to mention? I wasn't bringing the pizza home. Jack, well, everyone, actually, the whole team, was meeting there. Oops." 

"Say another word," Murdoc hissed, drawing his gun, "Let them know where you are before I have a chance to get away? And it'll only be a body Jack's left carrying out of here." 

Mac held up his hands in surrender for a moment before dropping them down to the floor beside him, nonthreatening. There was no point in arguing or putting up a fight, if Murdoc stuck around any longer he would be captured and taken into custody. Mac was in the clear. 

"I am sorry, Angus, that we didn't get a chance to enjoy ourselves," He stood up, brushing off the back of his jeans and straightening his shirt as if his appearance was integral for a perfect escape. "Truly. But, that's what I get for acting on a whim and giving in to desires without putting in the work and planning things through first. You can't blame me though, for leaving a little parting gift." 

Mac had been so focused on the gun in Murdoc's hand that he had nearly forgotten about the knife until it was driven, quick as a flash between the bones of his own hand, pinning him to the wooden floor beneath him. He wasn't sure if the threat of shooting him if he spoke extended to a pained yelp or scream, so he choked it back, biting down on his tongue until he tasted blood and slamming his eyes closed against sudden tears. 

"It might not have been planned," A slow smile spread it's way across Murdoc's face as he let his gloved hand trail down the side of Mac's face, collecting an escaped tear between two fingers and bringing it up to eye level, savoring the moment. "But in a way, Angus, this is a gift for all of us, not just myself. Cause you see, this is a perfect little surprise for Jack to walk in on. He's going to have this image burned into his brain now. And if I know our Jack, he's going to be reliving it for ages. Probably nearly as long as I'm going to be relishing this scene. Obviously, it will be more than enough to sustain me until we get a chance to really get back to our little games. But you, Angus, you're the luckiest. Because as much as this hurts? And I'm sure it does hurt, you're tough, but you're not that tough, this isn't something you're going to recover from quickly. You get to feel this beautiful pain every day, long after the memory fades for me and Jack. Every time you move that hand, you'll get to remember me. Every job our friends at Phoenix send you on, every time you go to tinker with some project out of boredom, it will be like I'm right there with you." 

Mac could do nothing but glare through damp eyes and hope a TAC team lead by Jack would burst through the door at the top of the stairs soon. 

"I really must get going, Angus," Murdoc took one last longing look at Mac and the slowly spreading puddle of blood staining the boards beneath his impaled hand. "Be seeing you." 

He took off, out what sounded like a side door tucked away in the corner behind Mac but he couldn't turn around completely to see for sure. He considered yelling for Jack, Murdoc wasn't stupid, he would have run off as fast as he could to not risk getting caught, but he didn't want to take the chance. He was rattled, emotional from the head injury and pain, and disoriented. Rescue was literally only feet away and he was too afraid to call out for it. Murdoc might not have had any time to lay out a plan, but his improv had been effective. 

Thankfully, he didn't have long to wait. The door above him crashed open, raining splinters and wood shards down the staircase. What was left attached to the hinges slammed against the wall with a clang. "Mac?" A familiar voice called and his shoulders slumped in relief. 

"I'm here," He answered, trying to keep his voice steady, though judging by the way Jack took off running down the stairs, skipping more steps than he actually placed a foot on, he could tell something was wrong. 

At first glance, he must have looked fine because Jack slowed once he reached level ground and caught sight of his partner. "Geeze, kid, way to scare a guy. You alone down here? Where is he?" 

"He left," Mac blinked hard. The stabbing ache in his hand was enough that he was having to focus to get each individual word to come out properly. "Side door. You can send someone to maybe catch him, but... I kinda... need you." 

"I'm here," Jack assured, eyes scanning the room one final time with his gun drawn before slipping it back into the holster on his thigh. "I'm right here, whacha... His words trailed off as he caught sight of the knife. "I'm gonna kill him." 

"I don't-" He took a shaky breath as Jack dropped to his knees beside him, a comforting hand coming to rest on the side of his neck that he leaned towards automatically. "I don't know how bad. Hurts. Can't move." 

"Yeah, he's got you good and stuck," Jack agreed, leaning down, forehead nearly level with the floor to get a better look at the damage. "And I meant what I said, that slimy bastard is as good as gone. No more second chances this time around, I'm done playing nice. Gonna ripe his spine out one notch at a time." 

"You need to send someone after him. He had to have a car if he left mine. Find him before he can get far." 

"Nobody to send. It's just me. I had Ri and Bozer go back to HQ to run surveillance for me. Keeping 'em safe was an added bonus to that plan. And I'm not leaving you." 

"Think this one might warrant a Med visit, huh?" Mac offered a weak joke that only made the hurt reflected in Jack's eyes shine darker so he glanced down at the knife sticking through his hand instead. 

Bad idea.

"Easy, easy," Jack's shushing, voice barely a murmur, was the first thing he heard once the worst of the dizziness abated. He was leaning, he realized, with his head on Jack's chest, tucked under his chin. One strong hand was braced against his side, holding him up without allowing pressure to cause more pain while the other was carding through his hair. He had worried, what felt like hours earlier but had actually only been mere minutes, that Murdoc's own hand making a mockery of the gentle motion would have ruined any comfort it could offer in the future but he apparently hadn't had anything to worry about because the steady brush of familiar callouses was just as soothing as it had ever been. "Hey, you back with me?" 

"Think so," Mac leaned closer for a moment, relishing in the comfort offered by the hold before pushing away. "Sorry." 

"It's okay," Jack assured, keeping a steadying hand on each of Mac's shoulders as he sat up. "Go slow though, I wanna make sure you're back completely online before letting go. Don't want you tryin' to topple over on me again." 

"Think looking at it was probably a bad idea," Mac admitted, swallowing down a wave of nausea. 

"Yeah," Jack agreed, too concerned to even consider cracking a joke yet. "You're a little too out of it though, for no more blood than has leaked outta you. I'm thinkin' that goose egg you've got there on the back of your head might have something to do with that? Or was it the fact that you're runnin' on steam off that last mission and didn't go home and rest like you were supposed to?"

"At least he didn't drug me this time." Mac offered.

"Yeah, well, there's that," Jack agreed with a sad smile. "Think this might be worse, though. That time you just were a little miserable and wanted to cuddle 'till it passed. Don't think this is one even a Jack Dalton bear hug can fix." 

"I'd say I don't think it can get much worse," Mac sighed. "But that usually only results in the universe setting out to prove that it can do exactly that, so I won't. We need to get out of here."

"Yeah, um, about that," Jack's eyebrows drew together in a frown. "Any suggestions on how we go about getting you out of here? Without, you know, the obvious?" He mimed pulling the knife up out of the floor. 

Mac moved the fingers of his injured hand, just the slightest inward curl of his fingers against the rough wood grain beneath them, but it was enough to cause a whimper to break free from his tightly held grip of stoicism. "None you're gonna like."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for joining me this week! It's been a whirlwind, and there have been so many moments I didn't think I would make it to today with seven completed fics, but here we are!!! (I know I say that every time I take on one of these challenges, but this time I really mean it. I was so close to not having something for each day and it's only by the miracle of a scheduling error that I had today off and this one happened at all) But most excitingly, now I can dive in to all the other fics I've seen posted! Can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with! 


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